Things we pray for

What I thought I wanted, what I got insteadLeaves me broken and somehow peacefulI keep wanting you to be fairBut that's not what you saidI want certain answers to these prayersBut that's not what you saidWhen I get to heaven I'm gonna go find JobI want to ask a few hard questions, I want to know what he knowsAbout what it is he wanted and what he got insteadHow to be broken and faithful

With the opening of another year - this year special as it marks the official launch of Impact Foundation - we've been intentional to start in prayer. Not just to ask for stuff, but to center our hearts on what really matters. And to remember and be thankful for what we see God doing. His ways aren't always what we expect, as the lyrics above point out, but they're always good.

With that introduction, I'll share a few things that we're praying for and a few things for which we're thanking God. If you're so inclined, we welcome you to join us in these prayers.

Surround us with the right people - those who share the vision, who are smarter and more experienced than us, who will speak truth in love and point out where we're in danger of going astray - and keep the wrong ones away.

Give us discernment and patience to turn down opportunities that aren't right for us. Much as we love all opportunities, some are outside our sweet spot and distractions can be the death of startups.

Financial provision. It would be awesome to make payroll every month.

For the network of National Christian Foundation. First, we're all incredibly grateful for our time there - the cool people we've met, the incredible experiences, lessons learned, and opportunities we were given. Next, we ask the Lord to protect their leadership, to guide them through narrow places, to keep their hearts near Him, and to rain down blessing.

For each of our portfolio companies and their leaders, bless them with wisdom, provision, focus, and excellence in execution.

Gratitude that we had a bit of wisdom to say no to early suggestions and opportunities that wouldn't have been right for us.

Gratitude that we can approach the throne of God and that through His Son our prayers are heard and welcomed.

Gratitude for our TAX EXEMPTION. We prayed. We got it fast. Yay!

Gratitude that God has invited others to walk this road with us. We'd be lonely and not nearly as equipped for this work on our own.

Melody Murray, co-founder of Joy Corps and JOYN Bags and recent immigrant from the US to Southeast Asia, shares her perspective on being a foreigner and the promise of Advent.

This Christmas season, I have been remembering that Jesus felt all these things too. He was born into a condition of homelessness. He spent part of his childhood as a refugee in a foreign country and his adulthood with “no place to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20).

Every profession has its hazards. For mine, it’s lawyer jokes and requests for free legal advice. This blog contains neither, but it will provide a little education on the basic forms of corporations so you’ll sound smart when you call your own counsel.

Some states offer a larger array of options; this blog discusses the most popular entity choices including corporations, LLC, low-profit limited liability companies (L3Cs), and benefit corporations.

Anytime someone says, “I’m thinking of starting a nonprofit,” my immediate thought is to make sure I can’t talk them out of it.

As Dan Palotta points out in his semi-famous Ted Talk titled “The Way We Think about Charity is Dead Wrong”, charities/nonprofits face tremendous headwinds toward scalability. Palotta examined the number of organizations surpassing $50M in revenue since 1970, and found only 144 charities reached that level while 46,136 for-profit companies did.

Question: How much impact/financial return will I get from impact investing?

Answer: It depends.

Kingdom impact investing may be easiest to see in the context of poverty reduction and evangelism. But we have seen hundreds of companies tackling a wide range of issues through business models as diverse as bus seat manufacturing, hydroelectric power, software development, and a cattle feed lot. Likewise, the potential return for investors is equally varied.

Should I offer investors a SAFE or a convertible note? What’s the difference and is one always better than the other?

Convertible Note

A convertible note is a type of debt that has the right to convert into equity when a company hits an agreed-upon milestone, typically the next round of funding. If the milestone isn’t hit, the company owes the investors their original capital plus interest. Cite.

SAFE

A SAFE, or Simple Agreement for Future Equity, is “an agreement between an investor and a company that provides rights to the investor for future equity in the company similar to a warrant, except without determining a specific price per share at the time of the initial investment.” Cite

I’m training for the Kansas City Marathon to raise money for World Vision’s clean water initiative. It’s quite possibly the least efficient fundraising strategy I’ve ever tried. Considering the time involved in training, recovery and fundraising it feels like I’ve raised about 25 cents per hour. Fortunately, I don’t think that’s the way we’re supposed to measure success.

I would do the running anyway because I love it and it keeps me mentally and physically healthy. Raising money gives the running even more meaning.

Whether we realize it or not, the degree of influence, and the acceleration of that influence, that key digital gatekeepers are having in our lives and those around the world is exceptional. Big data aggregators with democratically charged algorithms such as Google, Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, and Apple are wielding powerful influence in how we think, where our attention is directed, how we search for the truth, and who has sway in our lives. The question is, where are we going with all this? who's taking us there? And how will this affect our societies, families, and the generations that follow?

I've spent many sleepless nights praying and wishing I could just get some rest. Recently we met Gary Brown, CEO of Spiritual Sleep Therapy and I wanted to share his story on our blog. Here it is in his words. …

One third of Americans (82M people) struggle with insomnia and 15% (36M+) struggle every night, two-thirds of whom are women. Spiritual Sleep Therapy (SST) is the first company to produce sleep sessions that use the most effective elements of cognitive behavioral therapy relaxation techniques combined with the power of God’s Word to help those who struggle with insomnia.

An enterprise whose primary positive impact on the world happens through the way business is conducted. Its leadership, being rooted in Christ, follows the Spirit with intentionality for how they can participate in God's transformational work in the lives of employees, vendors, & customers while creating sustainable value. Read more and discover best practices.

The Verdant leadership team has spent a great deal of time putting together their framework for how they cultivate new opportunities. Starting with small explorations, they then perform a standard set of rigorous tests before committing in a significant way.

Having spent a week with the team on the ground as an outside observer, we noted there are three key drivers of success…